Did You Know the First Film in Nigeria was Screened at the Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos?

For a while, cinemas have been popular in Nigeria. However, made in Nigeria, or Nollywood cinema films are a relatively recent development; most early Nollywood productions were home videos. Here is a brief history of what the film experience was like before some of us were born.

Films were first introduced in Nigeria in the late 19th century. It came in the form of the kinetoscope– a motion picture viewing device. It required viewers to watch motion picture on a reel of perforated film through a peephole, one individual at a time. This was replaced in the early 20th century with better motion picture viewing devices.

The first film to be screened in Nigeria in what was similar to today’s cinema was at the invitation of foremost nationalist Sir Hebert Macauley in August 1903. He invited Balboa Film Company of Spain, an exhibition outfit that was at the time doing an exhibition tour of silent films on the West African Coast. For 11 days the audience that gathered at the Glover Memorial Hall in what is today Custom Street, Lagos Island, were thoroughly entertained. This marked the beginning of cinema culture in Nigeria.

1954 saw the introduction of mobile cinema vans. There were 44 free screening centres in different parts of the country. They showed films produced by the Nigerian Film Unit which at the time were only in black and white. The first to be shot in colour was titled Fincho, in 1957. It was also the first motion picture copyrighted to the Nigerian Film Unit.

Feature image: cityseeker.com